Meetings

October 29, 2007

A just-released, major research study commissioned by Dallas-based Leadership Network has uncovered striking changes in the number and type of new churches started in the

United States

. These developments promise profound implications for the future.This is a must read for anyone engaged in church planting.

The “

State of Church Planting

USA

” study was based on interviews with more than 100 denominational leaders (representing dozens of different denominations), 200 church-planting churches and some 45 church planting networks. Ed Stetzer, director of research at Lifeway Research, headed up the project. Stetzer reports that the results surprised him in many respects: “Church planting has grown in its scope, diversity and impact. North American churches, networks and denominations are making church planting a growing priority. Such emphases push the church closer toward a

movement—where churches plant churches that plant churches across

North America

and the world.”

Dave Travis, managing director at Leadership Network, observes, “Most church-planting studies tend to look at either a very narrow slice of church planting or developments on a global scale. In commissioning this study, our goal was to review the current state of

U.S.

church-planting efforts—and begin to assess what today’s reality means for the next generation of planters.”

Key findings of the 6-months-long effort include the following:

1.Interest is growing rapidly. The pace of church planting has accelerated dramatically in recent years. For example, a simple Google search on the term “church planting” now returns over one million hits. And, while only two mainstream books were published on church planting from 1996 to 2002, no fewer than ten have been released in the last five years, with several more on the horizon. Equally important, church planting has now become a preferred ministry option, not a consolation prize—both denominations and individual churches report that many of their “best and brightest” leaders are pursuing church planting as a primary ministry focus.

2.Local churches and church planting networks are driving the charge. Historically, church planting has been a denominationally driven activity. Today, the picture is quite different—with much of the energy centered at the local level. Many of the country’s most vibrant congregations see church planting as one of their central purposes. “Church-planting networks”—loose affiliations of churches that may or may not be tied by denomination but do share a commitment to launching new, like-minded congregations—are also at the forefront of the movement. As a result, denominational offices are increasingly taking a more subordinate role—equipping rather than directing local congregational efforts.

3.“Affinity” strategies dominate. Church planters once based their efforts on geography—the goal was to place new churches in “unserved” communities and areas. Today’s church planters are much more sophisticated. As Dave Travis notes, “Through this study, we learned that most successful church planters today are specialists who emphasize a particular style of worship or a specific demographic. For example, they may exclusively plant house churches or ethnic churches—or perhaps build purpose-driven, seeker or missional churches. And the trend toward specialization is likely to continue as more tools and resources that serve specific types of planting strategies are developed.”

4.Survival and success are markedly greater than realized. Observers have long assumed that most church plants fail within the first year—as many as 80%-90%, by some estimates. Research reveals a very different picture—suggesting that 68% of the roughly 4,000 churches planted each year are still functioning four years later. These baby churches may not yet be self-sufficient, but the congregations themselves are alive and many are thriving.

What do these results mean for the future of the

U.S.

church? Dave Travis says, “I am hopeful that this study and the growing number of outstanding church planting conferences and resources will inspire a new wave of planters in the years ahead. That would be very good news indeed. Launching vibrant new congregations is often a more feasible and more fruitful strategy than attempting to revitalize struggling congregations.”

Leadership Network has created four free reports that summarize different aspects of this groundbreaking study:

October 02, 2007

Often people complain that long-range and/or strategic planning is squandering time.When asked why planning is wasteful, the resounding response is that nothing is ever done with the plans. Why do we spend so much time in planning only to watch the strategies get shelved using the notebooks of our plans for bookends?It is because we do not know how to implement a strategy plan. In 2000alone, forty CEO’s of the top two hundred companies on Fortune’s 500 list were removed – not retired, but fired or made to resign.[1] Most of the dismissals were attributed to the inability to execute a strategy.According to Pierre Mourier and Martin Smith in their book Conquering Organizational Change, roughly 90 % of reengineering initiatives fail to produce breakthrough results.[2]

Many churches fail to see any outcomes from their strategy planning as well. These stagnant churches are plateaued and declining not because they do not have a vision or plans. It is that the plans are never realized, because people fail to communicate and execute their dreams and strategies.To see change, acceptance, and implementation of new ideas and plans, leaders may need to change the way that they communicate first.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” as the old saying goes. It is also true that one word can create hundreds of pictures or mental models in the listeners’ minds as we share our visions and plans. “New insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works,” according to Peter Senge, in The Fifth Discipline.[3]Our word pictures fail to communicate because the listeners have a different mental image than the one that we think were are sending.

Take the word “team.”The leader of one denominational organization that I once knew shared with all his staff that he wanted to be a team-based institution.After a year of trying to get his team approach working, this manager was totally frustrated.His team was not doing what he wanted them to do.When asked to draw his model of a team, the leader drew a sculling team with the captain shouting out orders and the team members rowing in synchronization with his commands.When most of the staff drew their picture of a team, it was an ad hoc Saturday morning playground softball team with rotating captains.The staff pictures of team were in conflict with the leader’s view of team.

When we use the term “church,” what mental model do most people envision?Is it a gathering place or a group of people?My guess would be that many view the church as a building.We reinforce that view of church from early age of a child with the saying and hand sign: “Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple. Open the doors, and where are all the people.”You may hear people use statements like “let’s go to church.”.The hymn “The Church is One Foundation” is often sung.If church is a building in some minds, then they will want to build buildings and develop an attractional model for church.This model is based upon the temple concept.

If member’s view of church is a group of believers gathered for worship, then the place will be immaterial.They still may have a “come and see” model, but the emphasis will be more on the gathering of individuals than the building.The term “the church gathered” will be heard.This model developed from the house churches of the New Testament.

The model could be the people are the church.With this model the people will tend to have an incarnational viewpoint of the church - with a “go, serve, and tell” focus.You will hear someone say “the church dispersed” or “we are the church - be the church.”The Great Commission provides the base for this model of church.

The Gospels and Revelation refer to the church as “the bride of Christ.”(Matthew 9:15; Luke 5:35;and Revelation 19:7 ).This mental model of the church is rarely used as a mental model for church in today’s world, although it is extremely powerful.

The question is not which model is correct.They all have Biblical bases, and all offer value.The question is which mental model does your church members have of the church.Once you know the answer, then you can start with their mental models to communicate the vision, direction, and change initiatives of the church or introduce a new model of church.

To help people to see beyond the four walls of a building, Peter in writing to a Jewish audience, took the building blocks of the

Temple

and morphed them into living stones “you also, like livingstones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”I Peter2:5.If the model of church is a building built with living stones, then the questions for church members are “with what material are the stones and what is holding the stones together?”

If the church is the “bride” of Christ, then what is her personality?Describe the church as a person.Is she a whiner, a gossip, or an affirming, loving, and positive type?What would you hear her saying?How active is she?Is she a recluse or active in her community?

Our failure to understand the mental models that we and our members have create communication barriers.To overcome these communication barriers so that we can see change initiatives and budgets reallocated, then we must learn to eitherunderstand andbuild upon them or transform them.

November 28, 2006

"You've planted one or two churches. Now what would it
take to plant 10? And after you plant 10 churches, what would it take to plant
40?" A few years ago, Bob Buford, founder of Leadership Network, posed these
questions to a group of pastors gathered for discussions on new approaches to
church planting. These questions are even more critical and strategic today.
What would it take to move from incremental church increase to exponential
kingdom expansion?

God is calling churches to radically rethink their passion and strategies for
harvesting the unchurched – for penetrating lostness. There is a movement to use
improved multiple methods, equipment, and increased number of laborers to work
the fields for high-yield church planting results. Churches are being challenged
to move from being gardeners to farmers - from church builders to kingdom
engineers.

There is no one model for church planting. There are multiple means for
starting churches. We are seeing house church movements, intentional multiple
starts processes that instill Church planting DNA into the new churches,
reclaiming declining churches for new church beginnings, and still some
traditional church plants. The style of worship varies as well depending on the
context. There are churches for the boomers and busters, the X’ers, the cowboys,
the bikers, the skaters, the hip-hop, and the homeless. Excitement is building
in the churches that are starting new churches. With these new starts comes a
revival within the “mother churches

Leadership Network has observed this church planting phenomena and identified
the churches that are on the edge of this movement. Since 1984, the DNA of
Leadership Network (Leadership Network) has been the diffusion of innovation in
the Church. Of the estimated 350,000 churches in North America, a small number
are recognized as “islands of health and strength,” and exhibit significant
influence on the other churches by introducing innovative and breakthrough
ideas. These innovators and early adopters are the client base for Leadership
Network.

Leadership Network has identified at least four characteristics of these
churches that are having a significant impact on the church planting
movement:

The churches have started new churches within the past 5
years.

Church Planting is a priority of the church with a goal to start
multiple congregations

They have a kingdom-mindset

They are innovators
in church planting.

Leadership Communities are based on our successful prototype “cohorts” of
Church Planters and Teaching Churches. A small group of innovative participants
were chosen to collaborate in a peer-learning environment, and be accountable
for executing an aggressive ministry expansion plan.

Church Planting Leadership Community DesignOver a
four-year period, at least five different Leadership Communities will be formed.
Each Leadership Community will meet four times over a period of 18 months,
followed by an optional annual alumni briefing. Over the life of the program,
48-60 churches and 12-15 para-church organizations that are planting churches
will participate in Church Planting Leadership Communities.

Goals of the Church Planting Leadership CommunityThe
ultimate goal and outcome of this Leadership Community is to accelerate the
learning, knowledge and application of innovative approaches to church planting.
Specific outcomes include the following:

A significant increase in the number of new church starts/plants

A
shift of the church finances from internally focused toward church planting

An intentional strategy and process for church planting

Development of a
process for identifying and training church planters

Development of
collaborative relationships and networks with innovative church leaders

Discovery of essential tools and resources for high-yield church planting